Artist Bio

If you were to describe Kortney it would be that she is a creative out of the box thinker, she couldn’t think inside of a box if her life depended on it! Kortney mainly works in oil paints on canvas but has been known to draw and paint on walls and furniture (on purpose of course!) as well. Her main subject  matters range from horses to dogs, birds to people as well as some non-representational abstracts. A definition of abstract art (from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University All Rights Reserved. Found on wordnik.com) that resonates with her is “Art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way.” She graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1999 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting and a certification in Art Education K-12 (that’s a mouthful!). Kortney currently lives in Powder Springs, GA with her husband of 16 years, Kyle, and their two girls, Miller & Murphy. 

Artist Statement

My mom, Vinda, told me that I “drew a perfect stick figure at age 2”. I’ve seen that picture and I’m not sure I agree artistically but as a mother I can appreciate where she’s coming from. Art has always been my main drive. My sanity. The smell of oil paint, the linseed oil and mineral spirits can bring me into the studio and soothe any emotions I may have. (Yes, I realize it’s odd but...aren’t we all?) My aunt gave me my first oil painting lesson at 10 years old and I’ve been hooked ever since!

I’ve dabbled in most types of art to some degree or another over the past few decades but painting has always been what draws me back to create. Whenever I’ve done a commission I always tell my clients “if you like the drawing, you’ll love the painting. You’re hiring me to paint and that’s where you’ll want me to spend my time.” My background in art education has given me a different perspective on art and I can decipher or break down most art and how it was created and usually which colors were used, which can be a good and a bad thing. 

My subject matters or lack thereof determine the direction a painting will go. I typically have an idea or color scheme in my head but I let my gut make most of the decisions about where color will be placed. Granted I sometimes get lost in my own head going over composition rules and color theory do’s and don’t that I have to take a step back and look with clear eyes. That could be a few minutes or a couple of days depending on the painting. To me a painting is done when it takes its first breath. Yes, I logically know that paintings can’t “breathe”, but they seem to let me know when they are finished being done.